Household Uses Of Vinegar Worth Knowing

On today’s market you can find all sorts of complex chemicals that have the same household uses of vinegar, a natural substance that has been used in the household for thousands of years. Many people don’t know that a gallon of distilled white vinegar or apple cider vinegar can replace a large number of chemical household cleaning products.

Many of the household uses of vinegar were passed on to the newer generations by the early pioneers and their proven solutions work even today. Read below and discover how vinegar can help you keep your home clean:

Household uses of vinegar:

Remove water rings on wooden furniture. Combine vinegar and olive oil in equal parts. On a clean soft cloth, work mixture with the grain.

Remove stains on wood floors or furniture. Clean the area with coarse steel wool dipped in mineral spirits. Scrub stain with vinegar, allowing it to penetrate for several minutes. Repeat, if necessary, rinse with water, then wax.

Make plastic anti-static. Vinegar decreases static and attraction of dust on plastic and vinyl. Wipe upholstery with a cloth dampened with a vinegar-water solution. Add a part of vinegar to rinse water when laundering plastic curtains or tablecloths.

Burnish your scissors. If your scissor blades get sticky or grimy you can use vinegar to clean them instead of water. This will protect the blades from rusting. Wipe down the blades with a cloth dipped in full-strength white vinegar and dry it off with a dish towe.

Clean up pet or people accidents. Combine a small amount of liquid detergent and 3 tablespoons vinegar in 1 quart warm water. Sponge on soiled area until clean, rinse with warm water, and blow dry afterwards.

Remove cooking odors. Prevent odor of boiling cabbage by adding a little vinegar to the cooking water. To remove fish or onion odors from hands, wipe them with vinegar. Pour vinegar into the hot skillet after cooking fish or onions and simmer briefly.

Wash dishes. To cut grease, add a capful of vinegar to dishwater.

Rinse crystal and glassware. They will sparkle when rinsed in a solution of 1 part vinegar to 3 parts warm water.

Clean bottles, jars, and vases. Remove chalky film by pouring in vinegar. Let stand several minutes or longer, then shake or brush vigorously.

Clean coffee and tea stains from glass and china. Boil vinegar in glass coffeepots once a week, wash, and rinse. Equal parts vinegar and salt removes stains from cups.

Brighten up brickwork. If you have a fireplace using vinegar is the perfect, effortless way to clean it. Mix 1 cup of white vinegar with 1 gallon warm water and use a cloth to go over the bricks. This also works for brick flooring.

Remove odors from lunch boxes. Dampen a piece of bread with vinegar and leave inside overnight.

Remove lime deposits. To clean tea kettles, coffee brewers, and irons, fill with vinegar and heat or run through one cycle. Run through another cycle with plain water.

Disinfect cutting boards. You can use vinegar to disinfect and clean your wood cutting board since the acetic acid in vinegar is a good disinfectant and it can kill bacteria such as E.coli, Salmonella and Staphylococcus. Remember to wipe your cutting board with full-strength white vinegar after each use.

Loosen rusted, corroded screws and hinges. Pour vinegar over the head of a rusty screw or a hinge to loosen. Soak screws, bolts, and nuts in vinegar and scrub with a brush.

Improve light from propane lamps. Remove mantle, place in container, and cover with vinegar. Soak several hours. Dry thoroughly.

Clean a dirty thermos. If you happen to have a dirty thermos bottle that needs cleaning, vinegar can once more save the day. Fill your thermos with warm water and ¼ cup of white vinegar and shake it well. If your thermos bottle has any residue, you can add some rice, which will act as an abrasive to scrape it off. Rinse the thermos and let it air-dry once you finish with the shaking.

Use vinegar to trap fruit flies. My grandmother used to trap fruit flies using vinegar and an old jar. She would fill up the jar hallway with apple cider, she punched a few holes in the lid and screw it back on. She would leave this household trap on the kitchen counter all day to catch fruit flies she brought back from the market.

Keep hiking water fresh. Add several drops of vinegar to an insulated water container to keep the water fresh longer and make it a better thirst-quencher.

Keep your washing machine clean. I often use vinegar to clean out soap scum and disinfect my cloths waster. I usually pour in 2 cups of vinegar and then run the machine through a full cycle without any clothes or detergent.

Make windshields frost-free. Wipe windshields with a sponge soaked in a solution of 3 parts vinegar to 1 part water.

Give a speed start to your seeds. Vinegar can speed germination of flower and vegetable seeds. You can mix ½ cup of apple cider vinegar and 1 pint of water and let the seeds soak overnight. The next morning remove the seeds from the solution, rinse them well and plant them.

Keep away pests from your garden. Some animals such as deer, rabbits, raccoons, cats and dogs can’t stand the scent of vinegar. You can keep these pests out of your garden by soaking a few recycled rags in vinegar and place them on stakes around your property. You should resoak the bags every week for full effect.

Clean salt marks on leather. Wipe salt-stained boots or shoes with a cloth moistened with vinegar.

Iron without shine. To keep wool or other fabrics from becoming shiny when ironing, place a cloth dampened with 1 part vinegar to 2 parts water over the fabric.

Remove crayon stains. Moisten a soft toothbrush with vinegar and rub out crayon from fabric or other surfaces.

These are just a few of the household solutions of vinegar I’ve tried over the years and I’m sure there are a lot more uses for this wonderful product. You don’t need to spend a lot of money to keep your house clean and you just need to discover the secrets of white vinegar or apple cider vinegar.

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